Hey there and welcome to Pop Rocks Radio.  As always, I am your host, Bijan.

Were we on vacation?  I suppose you can say that, though it didn’t feel like it.  I tell ya, this one man show thing is for the birds.  Need to get me an assistant.  Or a new coffee maker.  

Let’s start things off with the new one from The Wellingtons from Melbourne off their latest album, Baby Moon.  

So glad they’re back.  They’re sound is like comfort food for me.  And notice the Redd Kross t-shirt in the video - if there was any doubt Redd Kross is one of the best bands in America…

Have a listen to Sad Today.

That was The Allies with Emma Peel.  The Allies were one of the first, if not the first Seattle band to have a video hit on the still fledgeling MTV.  That was from their 1982 album Allies.  They called it quits in 1985, with their members going off to do other things - including David Kincaid and Larry Mason forming The Brandos who also had some success.

Welcome to Pop Rocks Radio.  This is our first show in a couple weeks and, I have to say, I have missed this.  So much great music is coming out in addition to Taylor Swift, that is.  Nothing against Taylor — I am an unabashed Swiftie, believe it or not.  Super-talented, great songwriter.  And honestly, she is almost single-handedly keeping vinyl LPs in the mainstream, so we gotta love her for that alone.

You know, I hadn’t planned on playing this, but let’s kick off this next set with one from The Brandos…just talking about them reminded me that I really    like this song.  They had that Americana sound that really started to take hold in the late 80s…I’m thinking bands like Cruzados (who we’re playing later in the show), Del Fuegos…bands like that.  This is off their debut, 1987’s Honor Among Theives, also the name of an amazing album by Artful Dodger, by the way.  This is Gettysburg.

We closed out that set with the latest from PONY from Toronto.  Big fan of them on this show.  That was Superglue.  PONY is currently on tour with Pool Kids, so check them out if they come to your town.

Before that, we had Stella & The Very Messed from Austin with Constable Garza is Bad At His Job - great title.  That is from their new album, Big Familiar which you can pick up on their Bandcamp page.


October is that magical month when everything spooky, or spooky-adjacent takes over — every TV channel, every streaming platform, even that empty storefront at the mall that suddenly becomes a Spirit Halloween. So this month, I’m dedicating our Tuesday Movie of the Week segments to some of my favorite cult classics from the darker side of pop culture.

And what better way to kick it off than with my not-so-guilty pleasure: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988). Cassandra Peterson took her late-night horror-host character and blew it up on the big screen, creating a campy, gothic fairy tale wrapped in shoulder pads, cleavage, and double entendres.

Now, you might be asking: why this movie? It’s not a musical, and there isn’t really much music in it — unless, of course, you count Elvira’s tassel-shaking musical number at the end. God, I wish this were a video show sometimes, because that routine is something to see. Let’s just say, my teenage self was never quite the same after watching that the first time.

But here’s the thing: Elvira is the most rock ’n’ roll of movies. Not because of guitars or songs, but because of its spirit. It’s scrappy, irreverent, campy as hell, and anchored by one of the most instantly iconic “performers” of the 1980s. Cassandra Peterson was part of the Groundlings — training alongside Phil Hartman and Paul Reubens — and you can feel that improv, anything-for-a-laugh energy all over this movie.

When her great-aunt Morgana dies, Elvira suddenly finds herself the unlikely heir to a crumbling old mansion in a small, puritanical New England town. Hoping to sell the place and fund her dream of a Las Vegas stage show, she rolls into Falwell, Massachusetts in full goth-glam glory — shocking the locals, charming the teenagers, and scandalizing the town council. But things take a supernatural turn when she discovers her inheritance also includes a “recipe book” of dark magic that her scheming uncle desperately wants. All of this, between the pitchfork mobs, the spells gone wrong, and that unforgettable tassel number.

There are so many little things I love about it. The house that Elvira inherits? It’s on the Universal Studios backlot, which makes me love it even more. I’m a sucker for movies shot on the backlot — it’s like Hollywood playing itself in a wink-wink way. And the plot, about this outrageous L.A. TV horror hostess dropping into a repressed small town, turns into both a fish-out-of-water comedy and a sly little satire about America’s fear of outsiders, and the irreplaceable value they actually bring to our society.

But maybe the biggest reason I’m spotlighting this one is that Elvira belongs to a long line of American originals — those gloriously weird, larger-than-life characters who color our world. Pee-Wee Herman. Dr. Demento. Svengoolie. Captain Kangaroo. Mr. Rogers, even. They may be characters they play, but they bring so much of themselves. And in being themselves, they became unforgettable.

And on top of it all, I love this movie because, well…it’s just really goddamn fun.  A little something we all could use, don’t you think?

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark wasn’t a hit when it came out, but like a lot of great cult movies, it found its audience later — at midnight screenings, on VHS rentals, and now on streaming. And if you haven’t seen it in a while, or ever, you’re in luck. It’s currently streaming for free on Tubi. And honestly, if you don’t Tubi, you really should Tubi.


We closed out that set with a classic by The Saints.  That was Private Affair from 1978’s Eternally Yours.  Before that, we had a fellow Aussie…the incredible Dom Mariani of bands like The Stems and DM3, with World On Its Head from his new solo album, The Apple of Life — now available from our friends at Alive Naturalsound Records.  You can pick that up at bompstore.com.  Also, check out the interview I did with Dom on the Pop Rocks Radio YouTube channel — such an interesting and super nice guy.

Lastly, we kicked off that set with The Half-Cubes featuring the great Peter Noone with I’ll be Taking Her Out Tonight.

I’m excited about our featured artist this week — well, it’s actually several artists, but they all are bands in the orbit of the legendary L.A. band, The Quick.  The members of The Quick, besides creating one of the most unique and exciting bands to come from a period of rock history before punk hit big that had become a bloated, overbearing shadow of its former self, all went on to do some pretty cool things after the time together.  

The Quick took elements of rock, glam, punk, and straight up cabaret silliness and created something wholly unique.  Let’s start out with one from The Quick itself from their only release while still a band.  From 1976’s Mondo Deco, this is No No Girl.

I had the honor to interview Danny Benair last month in L.A.  Most of you know, Danny played drums for The Quick, then went on to bands like Choir Invisible, and ultimately The Three O’Clock.  When I spoke with him, we talked about their best known song, Pretty Please, which was part of a series of demos the band put together to get major label interest after the release of Mondo Deco.  He referred to the song as a cross between “I Can Hear the Grass Grow” by The Move, and this next song by The Damned — a band that The Quick played with during their short run, and who have gone on to be one of the longest running and most iconic bands of punk.  This is off the second album they released in 1977, Damned Damned Damned — this is Neat Neat Neat. 

The song I referred to - Pretty Please, has been covered by several bands over the years.  Most notably - one of the best bands in America, Redd Kross — for their 1997 album, Show World, though they titled the song Pretty Please Me for their version.  Also covering the song, one of my other favorites, The Dickies on their 1983 album, Stukas Over Disneyland.  The Dickies are another legendary L.A. band, formed in 1977, and still going strong, fronted by Leonard Graves Phillips.  I include them here for a few reasons — not only did they do a killer cover of this song, Leonard from The Dickies sat in with The Quick on keyboards before Billy Bizeau joined the band.  And they also co-wrote and performed many other songs with members of The Quick — Loose Lucy by Billy Bizeau, Give it Back, co-written by Steve Hufsteter, Walk Like an Egg, co-written by Danny Wilde, and on and on.

The Dickies - Stukas Over Disneyland 1983 - 11 songs coming in at just over 27 minutes
In my opinion, The Dickies is a band that should have been huge.  I guess they’ll just have to settle for being beloved legends.  From 1983, this is their version of Pretty Please Me.


 After the dissolution of The Quick, Danny Wilde and Ian Ainworth formed the band Great Buildings, releasing one album in 1981, Apart From The Crowd, though their unreleased second album, Extra Epic Everything was eventually released in 2010.  Their sound seemed tailor made for pop success, though it never caught on like that.  Instead, what we have is one of the best examples of well-written and engaging power pop to come from that period.

This is off that excellent first album, this is Another Day In My Life.

Super-talented guitarist Steve Hufsteter is responsible for the majority of the songwriting for The Quick.  After the Quick, he played with several bands, most notably as a founding member of Cruzados with members of The Plugz.  This is off their self-titled debut album in 1985.  This is Wasted Years


We have a few more from our featured artists, but first, a word from our sponsor.  But since we don’t have a sponsor, it’s really, just a word. 

Hey, this is Bijan from Pop Rocks Radio.  The holidays are fast approaching and as you probably noticed, things are tough all over.  As federal funding has been cut in so many areas, food banks are being severely under-supplied and are not projected to meet the coming demand.  If you are able, please consider giving to your local food bank.  Because nobody, NOBODY, deserves to go hungry.

Ok, back to the show.

Starting out, The Quick were managed by the notable, and well, notorious, Kim Fowley.  As such, the members of The Quick became close to his other band, The Runaways.  Not only did they often share the stage, I believe they even shared rehearsal space, as well.

Billy Bizeau, keyboardist for The Quick, was also a very talented songwriter, and this next song is one he did for the Runaways that became the title track of one of their albums released in 1977.  This is Queens of Noise.


Danny Wilde, lead singer for The Quick, has had quite a career since the band went their separate ways.  We played a track from Great Buildings earlier.  Danny and Phil Solem, another member of Great Buildings, formed The Rembrandts, giving us one of the most beloved and ubiquitous songs of the 90s, I’ll Be There For You, the theme from Friends.

But before that, he had a thriving solo career, releasing several albums, including Any Man’s Hunger in 1988 produced by Pat Moran, who has also produced music by The Searchers, Iggy Pop, The Barracudas, Robert Plant, and on and on.  This was one of the singles from that album.  This is Time Runs Wild.


And now, to Danny Benair.  He has also had quite a successful career since The Quick disbanded.  He has played drums for several bands, including The Weirdos…one of the best bands to emerge from L.A.’s storied punk scene.  But most notable above all, Danny was the drummer for The Three O’Clock.  They were originally called Salvation Army, and released one album under that name, changing it to the Three O’Clock so they wouldn’t get sued out of existence.  After their breakthrough E.P., Baroque Hoedown in 1982.  The Three O’Clock released four studio albums, the last of which, Vermillion, they put on on Prince’s label, Paisley Park in 1988.

According to Benair, recording this wasn’t fun for a variety of reasons and they weren’t happy with the result — I hope you’ll watch my interview with him where he goes into it in more detail — that should be out next week.  Regardless, there are still some great songs on there.  This is one I particularly like - this is When She Becomes My Girl.

And that is it for our featured artists this week.  If there is an artist you would like to see featured on the show, drop me a note at bijan@poprocksradio.com.


Ok, time for one more set.  Let’s kick this one off with the band called  The Othermothers from Greensboro North Carolina.  This song comes to us from a supporter of the show, Joseph Rayle.  Thanks, Joseph — happy to play this one for you — your support means more to me than you know.  This is from the band’s 1985 mini-album, No Place Like Home.  This is Rodeo…88 seconds. 

That was Loose Lips from Melbourne, Australia with the title track from their latest album Last Laugh. 

And with that, we have come to the end of another episode of Pop Rocks Radio.  Thanks to all of you for sticking with us for the past couple years.  If you want to support the show, head on over to buymeacoffee.com/poprocksradio and help us keep the lights on.  And let me know a song or an artist you’d like to hear on the show, and I’ll give you a shoutout.

Been a few episodes since I played these guys, and I gotta admit, i miss it.  I guess the show just isn’t complete without a song by my favorite band, 20/20.  This is Jet Lag off their 1979 self-titled debut.

And this is Bijan from Pop Rocks Radio.  Thanks for listening.  Be good.  Be weird.  And we’ll see you next time.